Dosage of hydrocortisone for Addison’s

I guess I should also mention I am a 32 year old female 

Hi I'm on 20mg a day some days/nights 30mg depending on how on feel especially on a night shift for me its all about how i feel to how much i take 30mg is the max tho unless it's a sick day rule so 20 Is ok hope this kind of helps

I was recently diagnosed last month with Addison's disease and I have done it done a tremendous research and I am currently on 100 mg of fludrocortizone and 30 mg of hydrocortisone 20 in am and 10 pm.

At first they only put me on hydrocortisone and that wasn't enough to balance all my blood pressure sodium and potassium. The fludrocortisone balanced everything. I only take extra hydrocortisone if I'm sick or stressed. I really hope this helps you.

The endocrinologist will control the level of Hydrocortisone you should take following blood and other tests. You should always take this amount.

My Addisons was diagnosed in 1965 and for the last 30+ years I have been on a stable regime taking 15mg in the morning, 5mg at lunchtime and 10mg in the evening. We are all different, so what you need and what I need will vary. Certainly in my experience 15mg daily is on the low side.

Good luck

John

I take 25mg per day 10mg AM....10mg at Noon....5mg at 3:00 I assumed it went by weight I weigh 140 pounds.  I started with 30 back in March dropped back in June to 20mg and my ACTH blood test at that time was 69.2 (range 7.2-63.3) August my ACTH was 117.3 (range 7.2-63.3) put me on 25mg been that way since August, get my blood work done again next week. We’ll see.

You were on 15 mg and your doctor recently bumped up your dosage? Why? Are you feeling worse? 20 mg a day is usually the dosage that most patients are on unless they are still having problems and then doctors have used between 20 and 30 mg. The way that you will know if you are on too much is if you get sick a lot. If your bones begin to crack. If you feel racey like you are on speed. If you cannot sleep well. If you experience sudden muscle weakness. All of these are signs that you are on too much Hydrocortisone. I hope that helps!

Great question! I take 20mg myself. I can say with certainty that you are still at a "therapeutic" dose so the odds are that you will not be taking too much.

You will know if you are on too high of a dose if you start having symptoms of Cushing's. You can research this on Google for symptoms. Medically speaking, too much could cause high blood sugar, high blood pressure, or weight gain around your middle section.

We are all completely different in how much hydrocortisone we need to take to duplicate what our adrenals should be doing but can't. Doctors will tell you it's best to take the smallest dose you can tolerate. What does that mean EXACTLY? Your quality of life is important. You need to be able to function but be aware that too much isn't a good thing. Go slow and pay attention to your body. Stay in contact with your doctor and have labs done on a regular basis to keep an eye on your electrolytes and hormones. :-)